Omar, publication director of the independent daily La Gazette des Comores,
was charged with "publishing false news" in connection with an article published
in La Gazette on March 19 about the sinking of a passenger ferry
that killed more than 100 people, most of them Comorian.

The article quoted an insurance company employee who alleged that the boat
was uninsured when it sank.

According to Omar's lawyer, Harimia Ahmed, state prosecutor Idi Bazia brought
the charges against the journalist while Omar was in police detention in
connection with a separate alleged press offense. "Publishing false news"
carries a maximum prison sentence of six months and/or a maximum fine of
300,000 Comorian francs (US$762).

Gendarmes arrested and detained Omar, publication director of the independent
daily La Gazette des Comores, after the newspaper published an interview
with Younoussa Assoumani, the finance minister of the semi-autonomous government
of Grande Comore (also known as Ngazidja). Grande Comore, which is the largest
of the country's three main islands, is administered by its own president
under the terms of a 2002 federal constitution aimed at stabilizing the
notoriously coup-prone island nation.

Grande Comore is also the seat of the Comorian Union government, led by
President Azali Assoumani, which oversees all three islands. Assoumani has
met with repeated opposition from the islands' local governments, who accuse
the head of state of trying to undermine their autonomy.

In the interview, published by La Gazette on March 23, Assoumani
accused the state prosecutor, Idi Bazia, of interfering with voting in March's
local legislative elections. The elections were seen by observers as a barometer
of local residents' desire for greater independence from the central government.

Following his arrest, Omar was held for 48 hours in police custody before
being released. According to his lawyer, Harimia Ahmed, the journalist was
charged with "publishing false news," an offense under the country's Information
Code. The offense carries a penalty of up to six months in prison, and/or
a fine of up to 300,000 Comoran francs (US$762), Ahmed said. Bazia, the
same prosecutor named in the article, brought the charges against Omar.

APRIL 21, 2004Posted: August 11, 2004
Radio NgazidjaATTACKED

In the middle of the night, a group of masked men attacked the offices of
Radio Ngazidja, the official station of Grande Comore (also known as Ngazidja),
the largest of the country's three main islands. The men injured a security
guard at the station, who was hospitalized following the raid. Police interrupted
the raid, chasing away about 15 assailants, according to local sources.

Sources at the station said an anonymous phone caller had warned them of
the attack in advance, according to the Panafrican News Agency. Station
Director Abdou Djibaba told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the station
had received anonymous threats two days before the attack.

Local journalists believe that the attack on the station came in reprisal
for Radio Ngazidja broadcasts criticizing the Comorian central government,
which is led by President Azali Assoumani. A CPJ source said that weekly
call-in shows, during which local residents can phone the station and voice
their concerns and criticisms on-air, had become a point of contention with
central government authorities.

Grande Comore is administered semi-autonomously by its own president under
the terms of the country's 2002 constitution, which is aimed at stabilizing
the notoriously coup-prone nation. Grande Comore is also the seat of the
central government, which overseas all three islands. Assoumani is locked
in a power struggle with the islands' local governments, which accuse the
head of state of trying to undermine their autonomy.

Mohamed Abdou Solmadou, acting federal minister of security and defense
and an adviser to Assoumani, said the attack "was waiting to happen," according
to AFP. "The station is overly given to insults and provocation," Solmadou
said.